Utopai Studios at MIPCOM Cannes 2026

Utopai Studios brought a preview of its film and television slate and its approach to filmmaker-led production to MIPCOM Cannes 2026, held October 12-15 in Cannes, France.

As a Headline Partner of the inaugural MIP AI Entertainment Forum, the studio joined the international entertainment community to discuss how AI can support ambitious storytelling. Co-founder and CEO Cecilia Shen delivered an opening-day keynote exploring the role of human creativity in the next generation of film and television production.

Watch our recap for highlights from the keynote, the studio's slate presentation, and our time in Cannes.

Filmmakers at the center

"The technology is not the filmmaker. Only humans make stories and television," Shen said during her keynote.

Her remarks focused on expanding what filmmakers can bring to the screen, with writers, directors, actors, and artists shaping the work. She discussed how AI-assisted production could help filmmakers realize projects whose scale and complexity have traditionally made them difficult to produce.

A preview of the slate

The studio presented a slate teaser featuring Journey to the West, Cortés, and a sneak peek at The Most Serious Fart, spanning mythic adventure, historical drama, and animated family comedy.

• Journey to the West - A series exploring the early life of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, produced in partnership with Huace Film & TV.
• Cortés - A historical epic starring Antonio Banderas as Hernán Cortés, with a screenplay by Nicholas Kazan and direction by Paul Mignot.
• The Most Serious Fart - An animated family comedy based on the children's book by Mike Bender and Chuck Dillon, following a very serious character learning to embrace friendship and fun.

More from Cannes

For more on the keynote and the studio's approach to production, read the Forbes coverage.

Explore our films and series.

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